Why Jan Rosenow Believes 24/7 Clean Energy Is Business's Next Big Win

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-13

Running a business on clean energy every single hour of the year sounds like a tall order. Dr. Jan Rosenow sees it as one of the most exciting frontiers in cutting carbon emissions. He's an energy and climate policy specialist who has advised heavyweights like the International Energy Agency, the United Nations, and the European Parliament. In this exclusive interview, he explains why he stays optimistic about the energy transition and where businesses can actually make progress. ### The Shift From Paper Offsets to Real Abatement For years, plenty of companies bought certificates, checked a box, and called themselves carbon neutral. Rosenow calls that the old world of carbon abatement. What's replacing it is the real thing. Companies now want to prove they run on clean energy every hour of the year, not just on average across twelve months. "We're seeing a lot of companies moving into that space of 24/7 clean energy, and that is where a lot of the innovation is happening," he says. "It's hugely challenging, but also very exciting." ### Why He Stays Optimistic You've heard the predictions before. This will be too hard. Too expensive. It won't work. Then you fast-forward a decade or two, and the transition has moved faster than almost anyone expected. Costs fell further too. Rosenow believes learning effects and innovation will knock down most of the remaining barriers, and businesses sit right at the center of that. > "The energy transition is delivered by businesses." — Dr. Jan Rosenow ### The First Step Is Simpler Than You Think Companies often stall because they don't know where to begin. Rosenow's advice is refreshingly direct: make a commitment to move away from fossil fuels toward clean energy carriers. After that, bring in people who know how to execute. Experts can hand you a road map toward meeting that ambition, so you're not guessing your way through it. ### Business Is Doing the Heavy Lifting It's easy to talk about the energy transition as something governments do. Rosenow flips that idea on its head. Businesses build the infrastructure. They get clean energy technologies to consumers. They develop the financial models that make the investments possible. Small companies and large ones alike are pumping out innovation, and he thinks the transition is already further along than most people realize. ### The European Green Deal as an Accelerator The European Green Deal is a massive undertaking, and Rosenow calls it a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Europe to move away from fossil fuels. For businesses, that means incentives worth paying attention to. Think support for building out renewables and for decarbonizing the energy supply. The Green Deal, in his view, will act as a platform and an accelerator for the whole transition. ### Electrification: The Biggest Lever of All If you want to lower emissions across the global economy, electrification is the most important lever we have. That's not a hunch. It comes from analysis by the International Energy Agency and others who have studied it closely. ### What This Means for You - Start with a clear, public commitment to ditch fossil fuels. - Bring in experts who can map out the path. - Aim for hourly clean energy, not annual averages. - Watch the Green Deal incentives for renewables and decarbonization. - Treat electrification as your primary lever. The takeaway is simple. The tools are already here, the costs keep falling, and the businesses that move early tend to come out ahead.